Impulse purchasing is a familiar marketing phenomenon that can substantially increase sales of certain items. Typically, a consumer shopping in a retail outlet will find a number of items merchandised near a cash register. The items are displayed in such a way as to facilitate impulse purchasing. Attractively packaged items on display and readily available at the approximate time and place of a purchase of other already selected items facilitates the impulse purchase of those additional items. Such additional items typically include magazines, tabloids, candies and various articles of popular culture. Many such items may be dispensed from a dispenser located upon a countertop close to the cash register. The countertop dispenser has the advantage of allowing the retailer to easily adjust the location of the dispenser within a relatively scarce area around a cash register in response to the various needs of the particular retailer. Unfortunately, countertop dispensers are typically limited to the type of product that can be displayed and made available for impulse purchasing. Such dispensers typically dispense items that can only be stored and marketed at ambient room temperatures.
There are a number of items that could potentially be suitable for impulse purchasing but require either refrigeration or heating. Such items include cold drinks such as a bottled tea and warm foods such as a slice of apple pie. Impulse purchasing would be facilitated if a consumer could view such items in a condition ready for purchase at the time and location of a purchase of other already selected items. Such impulse shopping is further facilitated if the retailer is in the business of selling prepared food. For example, a fast food retailer would likely sell more warm deserts and cool drinks if such items were attractively packaged and displayed close to the cash register. The sight of these items close to a cash register would likely cause their purchase in addition to items already selected by the consumer. This would consequently increase the retailer""s sales and profitability with respect to those items. However, a problem arises in that current merchandisers are limited to dispensing ambient temperature items and that current refrigerators or ovens are large floor mounted items that are difficult to place close to a cash register without substantial modifications to existing fixtures. Furthermore, retailers prefer not to modify existing countertops or other existing fixtures to facilitate the display of heated and chilled items.
Impulse purchasing is facilitated by a purchaser being able to remove items from a display prior to purchase and then purchase the items. However, the ability to remove items without the aid of a cashier or vendor also facilitates shoplifting of those items. Shoplifting may be difficult to deter in a fast food retail environment where food is consumed on sight and cashiers are often not present to monitor heated or chilled items removed from a corresponding dispensing display. However, shoplifting may vary on a location-by-location basis. One retail outlet may have little or no issue with shoplifting and a different retail outlet in a different location may have a substantial issue with shoplifting. Thus, the problem arises regarding how to facilitate impulse buying of heated and chilled items with a common dispensing unit while deterring shoplifting on a location-by-location basis.
Thus, what is needed is a unit having both refrigerated and heated compartments. The unit should be compact and able to be placed on top of a countertop and preferably close to a cash register. The unit should require no substantial modification to the countertop or other fixture. What is further needed is a countertop unit that selectively provides customer access to facilitate impulse purchasing and a first retail location yet deter shoplifting at another retail location.